


Matthew's Letter to Alfred, Dec. 10, 1941

by ShiroHatzuki



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Human Names Used, Mentions of blood and violence, letter home, probably far from accurite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 08:37:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11100909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiroHatzuki/pseuds/ShiroHatzuki
Summary: Matthew, a Canadian soldier in WWII, writes home to his brother, Alfred, with reflections on how bloodshed had changed his view on the war.





	Matthew's Letter to Alfred, Dec. 10, 1941

**Author's Note:**

> Matthew was one of the soldiers fighting to defend Hong Kong at the time of the letter. This letter was written after Matthew hears about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but he had not heard about America declaring war on Japan on Dec. 8 the day following the bombing. This was also written the day before America declares war on Germany. Alfred had already been enlisted in the U.S. Air force, and when the letter was written, he already was going to be sent over seas to fight.

Dec. 10, 1941  
Hong Kong  
   
   
To my brother, Al,  
    Merry Christmas. Or at least I hope it will be around Christmas when you get this. How have things been at home? Well, I have heard that things have been pretty rough for you. I hope you’re recovering well.  
    I know you’re trying to avoid the war as much as your morals allow, but I have a feeling you won’t be able to. Seems like the whole is to be swept up in it. To be honest, I’m finding your idea of staying home much more appealing than the battle field. The things I see are  scary. Almost traumatizing, to an extent. Al, if you ever enter battle, you may feel excited at first, but soon, you’ll be scared for your life. You’ll probably hear a lot about recent deaths and injuries, and you can’t help but think that they happened so close to where you are at that moment. You might even see corpses. Whenever I do, I wonder if we’re the cause of all the bloodshed and destruction. I mean, a single, small, lead object can cause so much damage. The smell of blood, sweat, and dirt is always in the air. I think I can understand better than ever why so many people are against war.  
    Al, could you do me a favor? If you join the war like the rest of us, make a friend or several, play games, sings a song, do something to get your mind off of the battles, the blood, when you can. Above all, remember to stick to what you believe in. Even if you don’t believe it yourself, tell yourself that you’re the hero. I have seen soldiers who have lost sight of our final goal. They stop caring. Some stop caring if they live or die. Some stop caring about the people they shoot at. It’s like they’re not even human anymore. It seems crazy, but I’ve seen it. It’s  sad  and a bit terrifying. I pray neither of us end up like that, on or off the battlefield. Just remember, Al, you’re the hero, just like you always tell us. No matter what, never forget that.  
    Sorry, that got pretty dark there, huh? On a different note, have our parents also been sending you letters? I got a letter from Papa a few days ago, and he said he missed us. I miss being together as a family, too. I can’t wait until I go home. You’ll be there to greet me when I come back, right?

With hopes for the future,  
Matthew  
   
P.S.  The rations they give us don’t have maple syrup. Isn’t that just plain absurd? I miss that, too. You better be enjoying the sweet goodness of maple syrup that you have to yourself for me.

**Author's Note:**

> Even though the tag says this isn't very accurate, I still did research! Look at me, doing research for a short one shot based during WWII! So yeah, Canada defending Hong Kong was a thing, as well as the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declaring war on Japan and Germany. It's just that I think that the timing of some things is probably far from realistic for this time period. But then again, I didn't research that far into the efficiency of communication in the 1940's, so yeah...
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
